NC State
#34 University of California
NC State Falls To California In First Round Of NCAA Championships
5/11/2018 5:42:00 PM | Men's Tennis
May 11, 2018
AUSTIN, Texas - The No. 24 NC State men's tennis team saw its dual match season come to an end as it fell 4-1 to No. 34 California in the first round of the NCAA Tennis Championships Friday afternoon at the Texas Tennis Center.
The Wolfpack finishes the season with a 17-9 overall record after advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 in head coach Kyle Spencer's first season at the helm of the program.
"Today wasn't our day, and congrats to Cal for playing a superb match," said Spencer. "We played a fantastic doubles point but just weren't able to get locked in during the singles. This was such an exciting and rewarding first season. I have enjoyed coaching this team so much that I didn't want the season to end today. The foundation for the team and the program has been established. This group has a lot to be proud of, and the future is bright."
The Wolfpack opened the outing strong, picking up doubles wins on courts one and three to take a 1-0 lead to open the match.
Tadas Babelis and Georgiy Malyshev broke the first service game of the California duo of Dominic Barrett and Can Kaya and did not look back on the way to claiming a 6-2 victory on court three. Babelis and Malyshev ended the 2018 season winning 10 of their last 11 completed doubles matches.
Igor Saveljic and Ivan Saveljic, who are the nation's 69th-ranked duo, matched up against 33rd-ranked Billy Griffith and J.T. Nishimura on court one. They also cruised to a 6-2 win to give the Wolfpack the doubles point.
On doubles court two, No. 57 Alexis Galarneau and Michael Ogden battled from behind to take a 5-4 lead over California's Ben Draper and Jack Molloy. They were serving for the match when play was abandoned.
The Golden Bears went on to win four singles courts to earn the victory.
Nishimura defeated Babelis 6-3, 6-1 on court two, and Draper followed suit shortly after on court four as he defeated Ivan 6-3, 6-3 to put California up 2-1.
In a ranked matchup on court one, No. 54 Griffith edged No. 43 Galarneau 6-4, 6-2 to put the Bears a victory away from the clinch.
On court five, California's Barretto sealed the deal for the Bears with a narrow 7-5, 6-4 win over Robert Turzak.
UP NEXT:
Galarneau will prepare for the NCAA Men's Tennis Singles Championships, which will take place from May 23-28 in Winston Salem, N.C. following the conclusion of the team championships.
RESULTS:
No. 34 California 4, No. 24 NC State 1
Doubles Results
Order of finish: (3, 1)
1. #69 Igor Saveljic/Ivan Saveljilc (NC State) def. #33 Billy Griffith/J.T. Nishimura (Cal) 6-2
2. #57 Alexis Galarneau/Michael Ogden (NC State) vs. Ben Draper/Jack Molloy (Cal) 5-4, unfinished
3. Tadas Babelis/Georgiy Malyshev (NC State) def. Dominic Barretto/Can Kaya (Cal) 6-2
Singles Results
Order of finish: (2, 4, 1, 5)
1. #54 Billy Griffith (Cal) def. #43 Alexis Galarneau (NC State) 6-4, 6-2
2. J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Tadas Babelis (NC State) 6-3, 6-1
3. #120 Igor Saveljic (NC State) vs. Jack Molloy (Cal) 7-6 (9-7), 1-6, unfinished
4. Ben Draper (Cal) def. Ivan Saveljic (NC State) 6-3, 6-3
5. Paul Barretto (Cal) def. Robert Turzak (NC State) 7-5, 6-4
6. Georgiy Malyshev (NC State) vs. Jacob Brumm (Cal) 3-6, 6-6 (4-2), unfinished
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Players Mentioned
